Friday, 11 August 2017

Cakes, Lakes and Pizza Heartaches

The third week had swung by in no time at all. The
first two weeks had gone in a flash and the whole team was starting to feel as
if we were running out of time here in Navrongo. On the Sunday, it was Louise’s
20th birthday. We surprised her with a big birthday cake and all
gathered at her and Emmanuel’s host home to share food and enjoy the day.

Monday and Tuesday of the third week went fairly
slowly, but by Wednesday we were finally ready to complete our community
entries.

The six communities we had decided to work with were:
Navrongo Central, Janania, Vunania, Gaani, Tampola, and Biu. All six of the
communities lie in the municipal region of Navrongo, but spread out of town
towards the South, with Biu being around 10km from Central.

After getting to the office bright and early, we all
squeezed in the back of the bus and set off towards Biu. On arrival, we were
informed that the Chief was unable to attend the meeting, but a spokesperson
expressed his gratitude on the Chief’s behalf. A bottle of good old hard liquor
and a bag of kola nuts were presented to the spokesperson as a show of good
will. This process repeated as we traveled back towards Central, stopping at
each of the communities we were to be working in. Unfortunately,
representatives from Navrongo Central were unable to make the entry due to
pre-existing plans.

On the Thursday of Week 3, we were given a cultural
presentation in the afternoon by our Team Leader - Nana. It was about the
Ashanti region of Ghana; the area where Nana comes from. He taught us about the
‘Golden Stool’ and about the dances they do at traditional funerals.

As Friday morning dawned, we set off on a trip to Tono
Irrigation Dam. This was organised by Emmanuel and Leticia as part of our
guided learning program. Unfortunately, Louise and Patience were unable to make
the trip due to sickness. The cycle took us approximately one hour and 11km out
of town. On arrival, we were impressed by the scale of the dam; it’s one of the
biggest of its kind in West Africa. We took a walk out onto the platform and
admired the view from across the water. Small fishing boats drifted along in
the distance, and above the lake was a hill-scape that stretched for miles.
Begrudgingly we set off back to the office. On the way back we came across a
small yellow shop on the side of the road; we wanted to stop to pick up some
lunch. The UK Volunteers were especially in awe when we walked inside to find…
chocolates, milk, cakes, and biscuits – actual Pringles too! Needless to say
lunch was a good one that day.

On Saturday, a few of us had decided that another bike
ride was on the cards. This time, however, it was to the old Slave Camp situated
a short cycle ride away. We were shown around the Slave Camp by a group of local
residents who were benefiting from the ecotourism project that had been
established there. They were great tour guides, and explained to us every
site’s significance at the old camp. We were even treated to a demonstration as
to how the rocks on one particular hilltop can be used as percussion
instruments. It was a brilliant experience. On the way back into town, we passed
a hotel/restaurant that was advertising pizza on a big banner on the wall
outside. We’d all been craving a slice of pizza for weeks. We thought it was
actually going to finally happen. On inquiry, however, they revealed that they
didn’t have any pizza in on that particular day. And just like that, our hopes
and dreams came tumbling down around us. Would we ever find pizza?

Most of us visited church and relaxed on Sunday.

Week 4 saw a more toned down approach to the project.
We knew now what it was that we were doing, and we knew we really had to get on
with things. On the Monday morning, we went in groups of two to conduct
meetings with the Community Development Committees of the areas we were working
in. The meetings were very positive, and we found out a lot more about what the
communities want us to do, and what they think should be done about certain
issues that are prevalent with the youth.

Wednesday was Emmanuel’s 20th birthday. We
all surprised him by singing happy birthday when he got to the office in the
morning. After work had finished, we all stayed at the office to watch a film in
celebration of his special day – Eddie Murphy’s classic comedy: Coming to
America.

The remainder of the week panned out very similarly:
lots of planning, writing reports, attending meetings, and developing content. By
the end of the fourth week, everything was in full swing with regards to
project work, and everyone was looking forward to delivering their
sensitisations and radio sessions over the weeks to come.